Alliance Atlantis’ April 21 rollout of The Rocket on 115 screens in English Canada – and 35 more in Quebec, five months after its initial release there – represents likely the biggest-ever launch for a French-Canadian film in the rest of the country. It marks a tremendous leap of faith on behalf of the distributor, and while I admire the scale of AA’s ambition, I fear for the outcome of its gamble.

To compare, The Rocket is opening on three times as many English-Canadian screens as Denys Arcand’s Academy Award-winner The Barbarian Invasions, which, by the way, was produced by Arcand’s wife Denise Robert and Daniel Louis, the Cinémaginaire team that also produced The Rocket. C.R.A.Z.Y., last year’s award-winning smash out of Quebec, opened on just two screens in Toronto, and that film outperformed The Rocket at the Quebec box office ­- by a margin of $6.2 million to $4.2 million ‑ and blanked it 15-0 at the Prix Jutra. It ultimately took in $344,000 on English-Canadian screens.

So why is AA so bullish about The Rocket’s prospects in English Canada?

Well, clearly it’s the subject matter.

Maurice ‘The Rocket’ Richard stands among the greatest hockey players who ever tied ’em up. He is one of those rare heroes who really earned his mythical status. First player to score 50 goals in a season. Recorded eight points in one game, after an exhausting day of moving. Led his Montreal Canadiens to eight Stanley Cups. Most career game-winning goals in the finals. And then, of course, there was his suspension from the final three games of the 1955 season and the entire playoffs – for slugging a referee – which sparked an ugly riot in Montreal that spoke of Franco-Anglo tensions at the time.

If any hockey player deserves the big screen treatment, it’s probably him. And no doubt English Canada has hockey fans whose interest in the sport transcends their team allegiances. And besides, biopics of Toronto’s Frank Mahovlich or Vancouver’s Stan Smyl just don’t carry as much dramatic weight.

But Richard is first and foremost a hero to Canadiens fans and Quebeckers – especially francophones – all of which makes the film’s box office take in Quebec, which was very good but no record-breaker, rather puzzling, and provides a troubling sign for its release outside of the province.

Personally, I liked the film – with reservations. Director Charles Binamé and director of photography Pierre Gill succeed in bringing the 1930s-50s era to life on a limited budget of $8 million. And despite being a little old for the character, Roy Dupuis – who turns 43 on the day of the film’s English-Canadian release, and who plays Richard starting at age 21 – truly inhabits the role, which he previously played on television. He really nails Richard’s inner intensity, which would only come to the fore on the ice.

Unfortunately, the film’s third act is a letdown.

The pivotal incident in the film is the Richard Riot and all that led up to it. So, when the film finally arrives at that notorious night, we see it mostly as an after-the-fact TV news report. This is supposed to be the story’s payoff, and it’s covered off in exposition. So much juicy drama left untapped: the tension in the Montreal Forum at the Habs’ first home game following the suspension; the arrogant arrival at the game of Clarence Campbell, the NHL president who had handed down the suspension, and who was widely viewed as anti-French; the spectator who extended his hand to Campbell, only to strike him; the eggs and other debris that were hurled at Campbell; the tear gas explosion; the stampede out of the Forum and onto St. Catherine Street, and the looting and the vandalism that ensued.

There remains much to recommend the film, but it will still be a challenging sell, its opening coinciding with the beginning of the NHL playoff season. Now, assuming that hockey fans are the film’s chief demographic, the question is: what would a hockey fan rather do come springtime – watch the live drama of the playoffs unfold on TV, or go to the cinema to see a dramatization of a guy who played 50 years ago?

The CBC likewise had high hopes for its historical Canada Russia ’72 miniseries in early April, and put a big push behind it, but it ended up drawing only 814,000 viewers – decent but disappointing.

AA itself is comparing the scope of its upcoming release of The Rocket to that of its own A History of Violence, which took in more than $4 million. The Rocket’s prospects of making that kind of coin in English Canada are slim.

But I would be happy to be proven wrong. Whatever the case, kudos to AA for putting these kinds of resources behind a Quebec film. The cream of the province’s vibrant new wave has too often been thrown on a couple of screens in English Canada with little fanfare, and died a quiet death. Regardless of its performance, the release of The Rocket marks a significant step toward reversing that trend.